


day number one in the rest of forever

by captainraz



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: But also fluff and laughter, F/F, Hurt/Comfort, Nightmares, Post-Canon, She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018) Season 5 Spoilers, These kids need some therapy, and a nap
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-29
Updated: 2020-05-29
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:00:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,803
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24437824
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/captainraz/pseuds/captainraz
Summary: Set immediately post-finale.Ours heroes finally get some rest, and say some things that need to be said.
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 156





	day number one in the rest of forever

**Author's Note:**

> Title from Level Up by Vienna Teng

What do you do once you’ve saved the universe?

Adora wanted to jump right back into the fray with a mission to bring magic back to the rest of the universe which was _such_ an Adora thing to do. And she might have done it too had she not started swaying with exhaustion five minutes later.

Catra was there to catch her. Would always be there to catch her now.

“Whoah there,” she said as Adora slumped in her arms. “Looks like it’s nap time for the mighty She-Ra.”

“ ’m not tired,” Adora protested.

“Yeah? Then why are you slurring?”

“Psshh, ‘m not.” She buried her face into Catra’s neck, drooling a little.

Catra was about to retort that she was too when she was catapulted back in time. Adora slurring her words. Adora with red glowing eyes. Adora almost turning her into a Catra paste on the ice, and it’s all Catra’s own fault.

Her fault.

_Her fault._

Her. Catra.

Worthless Catra. Can’t do anything right, Catra.

 _Why are you like thi_ s, Catra?

“Catra!” Bow’s words broke through the swirl of self-hatred. She couldn’t tell how long he’d been calling her name, but the look on his face was full of concern and tinged with fear.

“Huh? What?” Catra’s heart raced and every pound of her pulse reminded her she was alive. They’d done it. She had a chance to heal.

“Are you okay?”

She bit back the urge to snap that of course she was okay. “Yeah, I think so,” Catra said, instead. “I will be. Just… bad memories.”

Bow looked like he knew exactly what she was talking about. Catra tried not to think about how many of Bow’s bad memories she was personally responsible for.

“I don’t think Adora is the only one who could use some sleep,” Spark—Glimmer, one day her actual name would come as easily as the ridiculous nickname did—added. “It’s been a long day.”

“Yeah. Yeah it has,” Catra agreed, hitching a mostly comatose Adora higher on her shoulder.

“We could all use a little catnap,” Bow said with an unbearably smug grin on his face and if Catra hadn’t been holding up Adora’s entire weight, she’d probably have clawed it off or something.

Being good was a work in progress, okay?

“Back to camp?” Catra asked instead of giving in to her urge to lash out. The other two nodded their agreement. “Little help here, Sparkles?”

Glimmer tightened her grip on Bow’s hand and reached out for Catra’s arm. The next thing she knew they were standing in the tent she’d snuck out of the night before in a cloud of rapidly dissipating glitter.

Catra’s stomach lurched uncomfortably, although whether that was due to the sensation of teleporting—which she didn’t think she’d _ever_ get used to—or the knowledge that she’d run out on Adora _again_ right before the final battle was something Catra was too exhausted to work out.

That was a problem for future Catra, now that there would be a future.

“You get Adora settled, Catra,” the Queen of Bright Moon said in her best I’m-In-Charge voice. “The others will probably want to celebrate for a while longer but I’ll let them know where we are.” And then she popped out of existence in another burst of sparkles.

“I’ll go get the fire going,” Bow said softly before ducking out of the tent.

And then Catra was alone, truly alone, with Adora for the first time since the Heart. Although Adora was only there in the physical sense, judging by the size of the wet patch on Catra’s shirt.

“It’s a good job I love you, dummy,” Catra muttered, rolling her eyes. “Come on, let’s get you to bed.”

Actually accomplishing her goal was easier said than done; Adora was a complete dead weight in Catra’s arms and she wished for some of Scorpia’s strength, even if thinking about her caused a sharp pain in her chest. Still, Catra’s natural dexterity came in very useful every time one of Adora’s limbs went in the exact opposite direction she wanted it to.

“Ugh, why are you like this?” Catra groaned, but even she couldn’t deny that the words were full of affection, full of love. That was one emotion that definitely couldn’t be put back in its box. Not that Catra ever wanted to.

In response, Adora pitched face first onto the bedroll and started snoring. Catra sighed to herself before reaching to pull Adora’s boots off; asleep she was a danger to herself and everyone around them with them on. Tossing the boots to the side, Catra felt the pull of sleep tugging at her own eyelids.

“I guess she wouldn’t mind…” she mumbled to herself as she curled up at the end of Adora’s bed roll for the first time in far too long. It felt like a coming home.

With the weight of Adora’s feet at her back and the smell of wood smoke in her nostrils, Catra let her exhaustion carry her off.

***

The sun was warm on Catra’s skin, the temperature now magically perfect in this part of Etheria. She was in a bright meadow full of flowers, golden motes of magic floating on the air, threatening to tickle Catra’s nose.

Adora stood at the crest of a hill a little way ahead, surveying the world she’d—they’d—saved. Catra jogged a little to catch up with her.

“Hey, Adora.” She gave her trademark greeting, letting her love soften the once cruel words.

Adora turned around, a vicious snarl on her face instead of the loving look Catra had expected.

“What are you doing here Catra?” Adora demanded, voice harsh. “Haven’t you done enough already?”

“Adora, what are? I thought we were…” Catra’s words failed as she took a step back, her instincts screaming at her to run.

“You shouldn’t be here,” Adora continued, closing the distance between them. “You’ve hurt everyone enough.”

Catra’s claws popped out; instinct when threatened. Still, she held back. “I know I did. I said I was sorry.”

“Sorry isn’t good enough.” Suddenly Adora wasn’t Adora any more but She-Ra, the old version of her. “You don’t deserve to be forgiven after what you’ve done.” She-Ra advanced further, face full of hatred. “Bright Moon. Salineas. _Entrapta._ The portal.”

Catra retreated another step, hands in front of her to appease the god-like woman in front of her. “Adora, please don’t do this.”

“You don’t deserve to be happy, Catra. You pushed Scorpia away. _Scorpia._ ”

“I know. I messed up! I’m sorry. Scorpia forgave me. She hugged me!”

“You think that’s enough? You’re pathetic. I should have left you on Horde Prime’s ship.”

A flash of green and Catra was back in that cold, cold room, teetering on the edge of an abyss. She-Ra took a step forward and Catra’s foot slipped off the edge. There was nowhere to run.

Still Catra didn’t fight back.

“Please, Adora, don’t.” Tears streamed down her face. “I love you.”

“It’s not enough. It’ll never be enough.” With that, She-Ra grabbed the front of Catra’s shirt and then there was only thin air beneath her feet.

“No! Please. Adora!”

She-Ra let go.

“Adooraaaa!” she screamed as she fell into black.

“Catra!”

“Adora!”

“Catra, wake up!”

Catra jolted back to consciousness to find a frantic Adora looking down at her, holding her wrists in a tight grip.

“Adora!” Catra’s throat felt raw, and she was covered in sweat, legs and tail tangled up in the sheets.

“It’s okay, Catra. You were dreaming. It wasn’t real.”

“It wasn’t real?” Her words came out as a mere whimper.

“It wasn’t real. I promise.”

At those words, Catra felt herself relax. If Adora promised then it couldn’t have been real. Just a nightmare. Not Catra’s first, and certainly not her last.

Adora’s eyes flicked towards the tent flap for a moment before she shook her head. Catra’s heart rate calmed down enough to hear the rustle of the tent closing and footsteps retreating.

“Bow,” Adora said by way of explanation. “You were… you were screaming for quite a while.”

Red-hot shame blanketed Catra. She curled in on herself, escaping of Adora’s grip and pulling her knees up against her chest. “I’m sorry I woke you up,” she mumbled.

“I’m not,” Adora said, her voice soft like Catra had expected in her dream. But the nightmare was still too fresh for her not to hear the hatred of dream-Adora—She-Ra’s—words over the top. Catra’s eye felt tight, tears threatening to burst out of her. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“No!” Catra yelled, instinctively pushing Adora away so as not to display any weakness. Adora inhaled sharply, and Catra’s gut churned with guilt. “I’m sorry. I- I do want to talk about it. I guess some habits die hard.”

“It’s okay. You’re trying. I can see that.” Adora reached out towards Catra but hung back slightly. “Can- can I touch you?”

Catra nodded furiously, squeezing her eyes shut as the first tears leaked out. Just the sensation of Adora’s palm on her knee calmed the roiling maelstrom of emotions inside her enough to speak. “I’ve done so many _awful_ things,” Catra admitted, voice barely a hoarse whisper. “So many. A- and you were, She-Ra was reminding me all about them. And then you–” Catra’s throat closed up, unable to get the words out. Adora took one of Catra’s hands, carefully uncurling it so she was no longer digging her claws into her palm.

“I’m here. I’m not letting go.”

It was just the wrong—or maybe the right—thing to say. Catra burst into tears properly. “Well, maybe you should! I- I’ve done all these terrible things and I can’t change that. How can you just forgive me? How can you… love me?”

“Because you’re Catra,” Adora said, like it was the simplest thing in the world. “Because you’ve shown me so many times you want to be better. And I know–”

“–please don’t say I didn’t mean to do it,” Catra said, volume rising again. “Because I did. You hurt me and all I wanted to do was hurt you back. Even if that meant hurting the whole world.” Her breath came in short, sharp bursts as she teetered on the edge of panic.

Adora’s hand came up to cup her face, and it was like it was the only thing keeping Catra tethered to reality. She shuddered against Adora’s soft touch, twin instincts to run away and strike out warring inside her; anything to stop Adora seeing her like this. Emotional. Compromised.

_Weak._

“I know you meant it, Catra,” Adora said. Her voice was sad but held no anger or judgement. “Your entire life you’ve lashed out first and asked questions never. And you and me fighting on different sides was no different.”

“But?” Catra asked, waiting for the axe to finally fall.

“But I’ve seen how hard you’ve been trying to make up for that. How much effort it’s taken you to keep your temper in check. How you’ve kept apologising to the people you’ve hurt. And I’ve seen you choose to do the right thing and _keep_ doing the right thing day after day.”

Soft fingers under her chin forced Catra to look up at Adora’s face, into those kind grey eyes that were brimming with love. For her. For Catra.

“And, I don’t know if you noticed,” Adora continued, “but you kinda helped save the universe. That’s gotta count for something, right?”

“It doesn’t change what I did.” Catra wasn’t quite ready to let go of her self-hatred just yet.

“No, it doesn’t. But don’t you think it’s earned you a fresh start?” Adora paused, struggling with something inside, brows furrowed in concentration or confusion. “When I was- before you-” She set her jaw in adorable determination and tried again. “I had a vision of Mara. She said I was worth more than what I can give to other people. That I deserved love. And if that’s true, then you’re worth more than the bad choices you made. You deserve a second chance.”

Catra lunged for Adora then, wrapping her up in a tight embrace. “You deserve everything, Adora,” she breathed. “And I want to be more. I want a second chance, even if I have to earn it.”

Adora looked at her with that mixture of pride, happiness and love in her eyes that Catra didn’t think she’d ever get used to. “You asked me what I wanted.”

Catra stiffened, still a little ashamed of running away that night.

“I want _you,_ ” Adora continued. “I want a future with you, Catra. I wanted it even then, but didn’t think I got to want that. But I get to now.”

“I want that too,” Catra admitted. “I want _everything_ with you, Adora. Even the things I don’t even know I want yet. I want to wake up next to you every morning and curl up next to you every night. And- and- I want to touch you, in _every_ way. I want all that so much and I want you to want all that too.”

“But?” Adora said, anticipating Catra’s next word.

“I think we’re gonna have to take it slowly. It’s gonna take me a while to trust that all this isn’t some kind of dream-”

“-the best dream-”

“-and actually believe that I get to _have_ this. A happily ever after, or whatever. And,” Catra’s cheeks flooded with heat at what she was about to say, “I don’t know how to do this, be with you like this. I have no idea what I’m doing.”

“Me either,” Adora confessed, laughing.

Catra laced her fingers with Adora’s “We’ll just have to figure it out together.”

A smirk crept into the corner of Adora’s mouth. “Or we could ask Spinerella and Netossa.”

“No way! I still haven’t forgiven her for the spray bottle.”

“At least I know how to get you out of bed in the morning now.”

“What? No!” Catra pushed Adora’s grinning face away. “Don’t you dare!”

And then they were wrestling with each other, limbs tangled and faces happy with laughter in their throats. Just like how it used to be when they were younger. Except now they both knew just what they meant to each other.

Catra managed to get the upper hand, pinning Adora’s wrists to the ground and sitting across her lap, the same way she’d done a thousand times before. Only this time she allowed her features to soften with affection, gave in to the impulse to lean in for a kiss. And it was a hundred times better than she’d imagined all those nights back in the Horde.

The kiss was interrupted by Bow slapping the tent canvas in a vague approximation of knocking. “Hey guys, Glimmer says everyone’s back at Bright Moon gearing up for an epic party. The kitchens were basically untouched. Can you believe that? I can’t wait to eat cake again.”

“You’re rambling, Arrow Boy,” Catra grumbled, but there was no bite to the words. Not any more.

“Oh, sorry. I just meant that it would be a shame if the guests of honour were missing from the ‘we saved the world’ being thrown by the entire Princess Alliance.” His voice softened. “Assuming you guys are up to it.”

Adora and Catra shared a look that spoke volumes within a few seconds of silence. “I think that’s enough napping for now,” Catra said once the two had reached an agreement.

“We’ll be there in a minute, Bow.”

“I’ll let Glimmer know.”

“This is gonna be awful, isn’t it?” Catra asked, letting some of her nerves show through. After all, she’d tried to kill most of the party guests far more times than she’d save their lives. And her track record with parties was… questionable at best.

“Hey,” Adora nudged Catra’s shoulder, “it’ll be fine. If Hordak and Wrong Hordak are there, no one will even notice you. And if they try anything, they’ll have me to deal with.” She puffed her chest out, trying to make herself look larger and more impressive, but only succeeded in looking ridiculous. Catra loved it.

“My hero,” she purred with all the sarcasm she could muster.

Adora playfully pushed Catra off her lap and started muttering about her boots. Catra had heard Adora search uselessly for her stuff every morning for most of their lives; how was it still this endearing?

“Hey,” said Adora, breaking Catra out of her loving reverie. She held a hand out. “You coming?”

Catra took the offered hand and allowed herself to be pulled to her feet. “As long as you stay with me, I’ll go anywhere you like.”

“I’m not leaving your side. Not ever again.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.”


End file.
